A Ruined Award
by Swa-Sa Masou
Summary: Mason and Alex discuss their relationship and trust issues after the disastrous Wizarding Award ceremony. One-shot


**A/N: I know, I'm looking way too much into a children's show, but what else it new? Alex and Mason discuss Chase and their trust issues instead of just falling back together a few episodes later with no real resolution.**

_"Mason, no!"_ _Alex pulled at Mason's arm to stop him from attacking Chase._

_"Well, who's it going to be, Alex, him or me?" Mason looked defeatedly at Alex, pain in his eyes, desperate that she choose him._

_Chase looked shocked to find himself in this situation, but hopeful._

Alex huffed and crossed her arms. First, he stood her up, then he got so jealous that he ruined what should have been a night where she felt _good_ about herself, and now he was making a scene about her choosing someone. Didn't he know how much she loved him?

"Chase," she heard Mason take a sharp breath, but she refused to look at him, "I'm sorry if I've led you on, I don't have feelings for you like that. And you've known all along that I have a boyfriend."

Turning to look at Mason, she fought back her tears and to make her voice steady. "And you." She really didn't know what she was feeling. She was so deeply disappointed in him, so hurt by what he'd done, and so angry about how this night had gone, she wasn't sure what to say next. But, being Alex, she didn't always know what she was going to say next at the best of times. "I can't- what were you even thinking?" She gestured to the room at large, and realized as she did so just how many people were watching.

Clamping a hand on his wrist, she began pulling him to the side of the room.

"Wait, you choose me?" He sounded incredulous. Good. He should be amazed to still have her after pulling a stunt like this. He was smiling extremely wide and moved closer to her, as if about to embrace her.

Her tone was full of ice and flame at the same time, it stopped him short. "If I were you, Mason Greyback, I'd wipe that smile off my face real quick because is going to be the biggest fight we've ever had." Her heels made determined clacks on the floor as she pulled out her wand and flashed them to her living room.

Immediately rounding on him, her voice rose, "I can't believe you! I told you there was nothing going on. I _promised_ you that you didn't need to worry about anything with Chase and still you do that?"

He tried to reach for her hand, but she snapped it out of his reach, "Alex, I came to apologize, I really did. I wanted to say I'm sorry for standing you up and for not being at your side on this important night."

"You're right, it was important, so what happened to that apology?"

Running his hand through his hair, Mason began to pace. "I- I don't know!" He stammered out. "I got there, I saw you seated next to him and you two were laughing and he was touching you and I just lost it. And then when I wolfed out, I couldn't control it anymore!" He stopped pacing and stared at her, imploringly.

She raised a finger and waved it at him, "No, you don't get to do that. You do not get to use the werewolf get out of jail free card and you do not get to make this my fault! You should have been the one sitting next to me in the first place! You also should have believed me when I said that nothing was going on. I would have believed you!" She was breathing heavily and moved to flop down on the couch. Screw trying to hold in the tears.

She always tried to be stronger. She always hid her feelings behind cynicism and sarcasm. It protected her. She'd only gotten better at it as her life went on. But dammit, this hurt. She put her head in her hands and let a few drop, knowing that this was certainly ruining the makeup she'd worked so hard on. What did it matter now? The ceremony was over.

Mason gently knelt in front of her a placed a hand on her knee. "I'm not trying to make an excuse or make it your fault. I should never have stood you up and when I did, I should have been groveling at your feet for you to let me join you at that table. I acted horribly and if you had chosen Chase tonight, I would have understood why."

Shooting out of the seat, Alex nearly knocked Mason over in his kneeling position. "Again with the choosing thing!" She threw her hands in the air. "after everything that we've been through, do you really think that I would let some cute, famous guy who I've known for half a second come between us? The only reason he's an issue is because you clearly don't trust me!"

Standing, with tears in his eyes, Mason tried again to reach for Alex's hand. She allowed it. He rubbed a thumb over her knuckles. "I do trust you, Alex. Remember the necklace? It glowed when you put it on me. It would still glow just as brightly."

"That's love, Mason. Not trust. You can love me without trusting me. But love without trust isn't a strong relationship." She said, sadly. "Before tonight, as I was getting ready and thinking about you and us, I was wondering what I could do to make you see that you don't have to worry about losing me." She sat down again, sighing deeply. "But during your fight, I realized that it's not about something that I need to do. It's about you and your choice to trust me or not."

She pushed the hair out of her face and swiped at her eyes, looking up at him. "In that room, after you ruined tonight," she kept her voice steady, though so angry, "you asked me to make a choice. I love you. I can't imagine choosing someone over you. The only person I could possibly choose over you is myself, if I feel like I did tonight again. If I feel like you don't trust me and don't respect me, then I don't know how this can go on. Mason, I need _you_ to make a choice, not me. I need you to choose if you can trust me and believe me when I tell you something. Or else we have nothing."

Sitting down next to her and putting an arm slowly around her shoulders, waiting for her to pull back, Mason ran his other hand through her hair. "Alex, I'm sorry. I can't apologize enough for what you went through today because of me. I do trust you. I trust you to tell me the truth and I trust that you don't have any intentions of ever cheating on me. But Alex, I need you to understand too that you are so, so beautiful. And funny. And clever. And compassionate. And did I mention beautiful?" Alex giggled and leaned into him. "As much as I trust you, I don't trust guys who try to get close to you. Chase knew what he was doing the last few days. He's known what he was doing each time he's been around you and it drives me crazy." He could see that she was about to interrupt, so he rushed on, "It's not that I think you'll cheat on me. It's that I'm worried about losing you. I mess up, a lot, I know that. And I don't want him or anyone else to entice you away from me in a weak moment in our relationship, and I know if it ever happened, it would be my fault, not yours or his. But more than that, I don't want anything to happen to you. Men can be terrible, and it's my job to protect you."

"I know you want to think that." Alex hadn't pulled away from him. She like the feeling of his arm pulling her to his side. Despite her words, it always made her feel safe. "But you also have to trust me to be able to protect myself. I was receiving an award tonight for saving the Wizarding World! I can take care of myself."

"I do know that. Of course, I do. It's just a feeling, a compulsion to want you to be safe. I can't promise to stop right away, but I can promise to try and to work on it." He leaned his forehead against hers, "And I don't think I need to ask you to do this, but you do need to call me on it when I don't so I can remind myself to behave. I can't lose you, Alex. I won't let my stupid actions worrying about you cause problems between us. I'm so sorry."

Alex leaned forward and swiped her hands through her hair again, sniffled and wiped her hands against her thighs. Mason looked troubled at her reaction. "I appreciate that, Mason. And apology accepted. But that doesn't fix everything." She sniffed again, "I think you should go." She stood up and walked toward the door. "I'll call you tomorrow, okay?"

"Alex, I don't want to leave." When Alex didn't say anything, just put her hand the doorknob, he knew it was useless. He walked toward the door and she opened it for him. Before leaving, he put a hand beneath her chin to tilt it up toward him, "can I kiss you before I leave?"

She leaned up to close the space between them and their lips met. Hands threaded through hair and pulled hips closer. They broke apart and Mason stepped toward the door, reluctantly letting go of her waist.

"Hey, Mase," Alex cut off while Mason turned around, "for what it's worth, I don't think there's any way Chase could be a better kisser."

Laughing and reaching back through the doorway to grasp her hand, Mason smiled at her and then reached down to kiss her hand, "Goodnight, Alex, my love."


End file.
